Seeking the truth

Thursday

Sep 6, 2018 at 3:01 AM

Last week, Mashpee Police Chief Scott Carline released a long-awaited report in connection with a car crash on July 28 that took the lives of three people and involved a police chase, at least at the outset. The report offers more insight into the split-second thinking that took place during the barely two-minute chase, and provides a good starting point for a larger discussion about what policies and approaches the Mashpee Police Department - and others - should employ in the future.

Although the crash occurred in Cotuit, it actually began in Mashpee, when Patrol Officer Matthew Cascio observed a sedan being driven erratically. Specifically, Cascio reported that the driver, later identified as Mickey Rivera, was failing to stay in marked lanes, speeding, and failing to stop at multiple stop signs. He activated his blue lights and began to pursue the vehicle. At first, Rivera slowed down, but did not come to a stop. Cascio then turned on his siren, and Rivera accelerated. Although Rivera’s speed eventually rose to between 90 miles-per-hour and 100 miles-per-hour, Cascio continued to travel at a more modest speed, falling behind.

During this same time frame, Cascio called the car’s registration into police dispatch and requested that another officer respond to the address associated with it. When the sedan passed into Barnstable, the patrol supervisor, Sgt. Ryan Nardone, authorized Cascio to continue his pursuit. Moments later, Rivera struck a vehicle being driven by Kevin Quinn. The crash killed both Rivera and Quinn, as well as Jocelyn Goyette, a passenger in Rivera’s sedan.

In August, Carline announced an in-house investigation into the crash, appointing Mashpee Police Capt. Thomas Rose and Lt. Olivier Naas to the case. At the time, some questioned whether the final report would be both thorough and transparent, as the investigation involved individuals within the department. Fortunately, Carline also arranged for an outside review of the investigation by a Connecticut-based law firm, Daigle Law Group LLC, which eventually concurred with the report’s results, according to Carline.

The report faults Cascio, who in interviews admitted that he felt Rivera’s reaction to his lights indicated that Rivera had committed a more serious crime. He also acknowledged that given that he had Rivera’s registration information, he could have pursued an investigation without necessarily giving chase. At the same time, Nardone noted in his interview that simply having the registration of a vehicle does not necessarily mean that the person connected with the registration is the person driving the car at the time.

Ultimately, the report faults Cascio for activating his lights without a clear indication that there was a threat to public safety. It notes that the “continued pursuit of the suspect vehicle posed a substantial risk to the public.” It also indicates that Nardone acted appropriately, given the information he had from Cascio at the time.

Carline should be praised for his willingness to both thoroughly investigate this incident and then share the report with the public. In the past, other police chiefs, including some on the Cape, have not been as forthcoming with such details when the investigation involved their own officers. Some, in fact, have stonewalled both the press and the public, contending that the investigation represented an internal or personnel matter.

It is worth noting that the entire incident, from the time Cascio called it in to the time of the crash, took less than two minutes. This means that both Cascio and Nardone had to make spit-second, life-altering decisions that most of us will fortunately never have to face. Still, this is precisely why proper police training remains a critical component of community safety. Carline has pledged that the department will take “corrective measures” to help guarantee that better decision-making take place in the future.

Based on how he handled this tragic case, we have every confidence that Chief Carline will be equally transparent about what he and the department will do to help prevent such a tragedy from occurring again.

Meanwhile, we commend Carline for putting the integrity of the entire department ahead of personal loyalties to individual members of the department. As Carline said last week, the citizens of Mashpee do not expect the police to be perfect, but they do expect them to be honest. That's an important lesson for all the Cape police chiefs.

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